Tuesday 12th march – A talk by Tesni Ward

We welcomed Tesni Ward, wildlife photography who lives near Sheffield in the Peak District.
Tesni explained the difficulty in capturing wildlife images and the need for patience and persistence. She related some biographical details whilst showing some of her beautiful wildlife images. These ranged from water voles in the UK to details of hippos in Africa, from terns on the Farne Islands to red billed ox peckers in Africa.
Tesni was very good at involving the audience even if we were unable to find the animal in one particular shot!!
Tesni's enthusiasm was very evident and she went to some considerable lengths to explain the plight of some animals. The images from her project on badgers were different and spectacular.
To see some of her images please check out Tesni's web site www.tesniward.co.uk.

Tuesday 5th March – Members Critique Evening

We had some 20 or so images submitted by members who were prepared to share their images for critique by other club members.
This gave all members present a chance to be a judge and appreciate the difficulty that this entails, whilst at the same time giving others a chance to realise the obvious flaws in their image once it was blown up full size on a screen. 
A good evening and thanks to all those brave enough to submit their images.

Siberian Husky Racing - Sunday March 3rd

Thanks to everyone that turned up on this rather wet Sunday morning.

There was plenty of action with huskies racing in teams of 8, 6 and 4 right down to a single dog with cyclist in tow!

The organisers were very friendly and helpful and the refreshment wagon was very welcome.

Some of our images can been seen below:

Taking the Bend by Jack Mitchell

Team of 6 by Geoff Lingwood

Coming Out of the Bend by Andy Caws

A Walk in the Woods by Graham Frost

Hanging On by Di Jackson

Rounding the Bend by Geoff Lingwood

Just Walking the Dogs by Christine Frost

Full Speed Ahead by Di Jackson

Leading the Way by Andy Caws

Tongues in Front by Jack Mitchell

Tuesday 26 February - Digital competition 'Scapes'

Judge Andy Swain reviewed and scored 68 'scapes' images.  Club members had been quite inventive in their interpretation of this theme and we saw a good variety of photographic styles and locations from near and far.  Andy gave a concise critique of each image before awarding a score.  At one point he commented on the overall high standard of the images, some of the best he'd seen in the last two years of judging.

Thank you to everyone who entered images and very well done to those who achieved high scores.

Here are the high scoring images:

Images scoring 20 out of 20

AN URBAN LANDSCAPE by Heather Ryder

BLEA TARN by Geoff Lingwood

BODYSCAPE by Chris Kot

BOSCOMBE PIER AT DAWN by Andy Caws

COLD AUTUMN DAWN by Dawn Osborn

LAGANGARBH CLIMBING HUT GLENCOE by Graham Frost

THE DORSET COAST by Tim Leonard

TIMANFAYA by Diana Graham

Images scoring 19 out of 20

A BREAK IN THE STORM by Di Jackson

KICKING HORSE RIVER FALLS by Dawn Osborn

SAND DUNES AND SALT PANS by Tim Leonard

SEA LAVENDER AND BOAT by Christine Alcock

THE SEA BATHING POOL by Nick Akers

WINTER by Francesca Shearcroft

WOOD PILINGS IN THE EAST RIVER by Jan Murphy

Chippenham Park Gardens - Wednesday 13th February

We couldn’t believe our luck as the clouds disappeared, the wind dropped and the sun came out - what a beautiful day.  This club event was about photographing snowdrops but there was so much more to enjoy at Chippenham Park gardens - winter aconites, crocus, amazing displays of hellebores and many fragrant winter flowering shrubs.  Thank you Christine for recommending this destination as a club event - I think some of us will definitely be returning to enjoy the gardens later in the year.

After all going off in various directions to find that special shot we met up at the cafe to enjoy a hot drink and sample some of their splendid hot food and cakes.

Everyone seemed to enjoy their day and thought the gardens and all the facilities were outstanding.

Some of our images can be seen below:

Boxing Hares by Graham Jackson

Standing Out From The Crowd by Andy Caws

Aconites by Diana Graham

Snowdrops by Maureen Campbell

Purple Crocus by Di Jackson

Lazing by the Pool by Sue Baldwin

Yellow Crocus by Francesca Shearcroft

Legs Akimbo by Sue Baldwin

Lone Daffodil in the Snowdrops by Diana Graham

Purple and White Hellebore by Di Jackson

Crocus by Maureen Campbell

Sunlit Snowdrops by Di Jackson

Tuesday 12th February – An Evening with Colin Trow-Poole

Colin Trow-Poole came all the way from Worcester to visit us tonight. A journey of over 150 miles. His talk was definitely in two halves. The first being mainly, but not exclusively, landscapes including architecture abstracts and urban scapes and the second being nearly all portraits. Most of Colin's images were monochrome and being sponsored by Permajet they were all prints.
Colin's talk was not just about showing his images but along the way he included many hints and tips as to the reason he took the image the way he did. Also gave us several editing suggestions as well. Although Colin clearly knew the rules of composition he was  not afraid to break them and explained to us why he did so.
A great evening  and well supported by members.
Many of his images can be seen on his website http://www.colintrowpoole.com

Tuesday 5th February

This evening we had a repeat of the workshops held a couple of weeks ago.
Members had a chance to go along to the same of a different work station.  The committee received many favourable comments about the two evening sessions. 
Hopefully members will practise, practise and practise and ensure they can used the new skills learnt.